Frank was in a rush. He had planned this special day for so long and if he didn't get a move on, his girlfriend would miss the surprise.
"Hurry, Gideon! We need to leave now!"
"Alright, alright, I'll be right there!"
Rushing from the house, they made their way to the quiet little village that many had fallen in love with during their years at Hogwarts. Gideon went off to set up the surprise while Frank went looking. Then, through the snow, he saw her. Alice. His bubble-gum girl. He liked to call her that for the excessive amount of chewing gum she consumed, and he knew that she liked it as a nickname. It was much better than being called, 'Drooble's', a name he found out she hated despite being in love with their most famous product.
Slowly walking over to her, he had to stop himself from giving away his nervousness or excitement. He reached Alice and grabbed her hand, alerting her to his presence. Turning to him with a smile, she raised an eyebrow and said, "You're late."
"Yes, but you should blame Gideon for that. In fact, he wanted us to meet him in Honeydukes. Said he found some secret path into their cellar that Sirius told him about. We better get going."
They trudged loudly through the snow to Honeydukes, with the sound of Alice's loud chewing cutting through the air. Just before they reached the door, Frank stopped her.
"Alice, we're not meant to be in the cellar, so we'll have to be very quiet. That means that you're going to have to get rid of your gum, but don't worry, I got you another one," he said with a wink, pulling out a familiar pink packet to show her.
"Ugh, if I had known that, I would have told Gideon to meet us outside. Fine, but I'm only doing this for you," said Alice, spitting out the gum with a lot of annoyance written on her face.
"Thanks, love. Now take my hand, we best get going."
Sneaking in between boxes and people, the couple made their way through the crowded shop and managed to slip into the staircase unnoticed, following where it led. The light at the end had a pinkish tinge and Alice hesitated a little, going forward.
"Here, love, have some gum. We're basically here now so chew as loudly as you want but just keep following me. Come on."
And with that, they started moving faster, one of Alice's hands held to Frank's, and her other hand unwrapping her gum. She tucked the wrapper back into her pocket and crammed the sweet into her mouth. Ah, sweet joy-
"Frank? Frank! There's something in my gum!"
But Frank wasn't listening. Instead, he moved even faster and in a couple of seconds, they were finally at the end of the long staircase and in a room full of pink lights.
"Frank! I was trying to tell you that- Oh."
All around, there were pink bubbles in heart shapes floating around, with enchanted snowflakes falling lightly before resting on a surface. But that wasn't what got Alice's attention. It was the bubble writing in the middle that did.
"ALISON ROSA BURKE, WILL YOU MARRY ME?"
Alice spit her gum in shock and found that the 'something' inside it was a ring. Frank took her silence as the right time to ask her. On bended knee, he looked at her, the woman who had captured his heart with her passion for nature and herbology, the woman who loved him more than he ever thought he deserved. And then Frank Longbottom finally asked Alice Burke to be his wife.
Alice kept that gum wrapper with her like it was a treasure. It was one of the best things that Frank had ever given her, because it was a part of the new life that he wanted to begin with her. Little did she know that only a few years later, she would lose this treasure, as well as the many memories she shared with her beloved Frank.
Little did she also know, that one day, a boy named Neville would visit her as if in a dream with the same kind of gum and she would remember. She would remember, even if just for a second.